MacMost Now 891: Customizing Your Desktop With GeekTool
The free GeekTool app allows you to put images, file content and shell script output right on your Desktop background. You can use this to customize your desktop in a variety of ways, such as showing current weather, news or financial information. Or, you can use it to monitor your Mac or systems on the Internet.
Comments: 12 Responses to “MacMost Now 891: Customizing Your Desktop With GeekTool”
John Pearson
11 years ago
Love the idea of geek tool and this was a good video tutorial. Unfortunately, when I downloaded geektool it did not work. I have a new iMac, so it should work fine. I could add an image to the desktop, and a local image worked fine. However, when I added a url as you showed in the video, nothing happened, and the radar image (from the url I added) didn't appear in the image box. Nothing did. All of the sudden, from what seemed a cool new thing for the desktop, it became a useless waste of time.
Use whatever rate you want. If a web site updates an image every hour, then you can use once per hour, for example.
Shel
11 years ago
I am running Snow Leopard and have been unable to download a version of Geektool that works... Any suggestions I have gone to tynsoe.org and tried two versions there. ????
Sorry, no suggestions. I'm not using Snow Leopard on any Macs anymore, so I can't try it myself.
John C Stires
11 years ago
I'm having the same experience that Person described (10.8.4). I copy and paste the NWS URL and... nada. I can put pics in without trouble but not URLs. It's as if it's waiting for me to push a "Done" button or something. (http://www.weather.gov/satellite)
John C Stires
11 years ago
OK, delete previous comment; it's for PICTURES (jpg's), an URL that is a picture. Not live URLs; got it!
Love the idea of geek tool and this was a good video tutorial. Unfortunately, when I downloaded geektool it did not work. I have a new iMac, so it should work fine. I could add an image to the desktop, and a local image worked fine. However, when I added a url as you showed in the video, nothing happened, and the radar image (from the url I added) didn't appear in the image box. Nothing did. All of the sudden, from what seemed a cool new thing for the desktop, it became a useless waste of time.
I think it depends on the image URL. I have a new iMac with Mountain Lion, and although others didn't work for me, this one did:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/PCPN/DATA/RT/NA/IR4/20.jpg
I'm hoping it updates.
Can you share the text that was used to get the date and time all in one Geeklet?
It was just one word: date
Hi Gary,
Great video describing GeekTool. Thank you.
How do you spell the GeekTool applets? I want to use it as a search term to find more of them.
Also, Is there a listing, available, with descriptions of Shell calls. "Date" was a great example for me.
Thanks in advance. Keep up the great videos!
I don't know of any list of applets or shell commands off the top of my head -- but a quick search should turn up each of those.
Hi Gary,
One more question . . . .
The weather image which updates, do you have to use a refresh time? If so, what rate would it be?
Again, thanks.
Use whatever rate you want. If a web site updates an image every hour, then you can use once per hour, for example.
I am running Snow Leopard and have been unable to download a version of Geektool that works... Any suggestions I have gone to tynsoe.org and tried two versions there. ????
Sorry, no suggestions. I'm not using Snow Leopard on any Macs anymore, so I can't try it myself.
I'm having the same experience that Person described (10.8.4). I copy and paste the NWS URL and... nada. I can put pics in without trouble but not URLs. It's as if it's waiting for me to push a "Done" button or something. (http://www.weather.gov/satellite)
OK, delete previous comment; it's for PICTURES (jpg's), an URL that is a picture. Not live URLs; got it!